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This is the sixth Wyndham novel I've read and it had a different feel than the others, most of which I would say could be classified as his usual "soft apocalypse" science fiction. I thought Trouble with Lichen was slower than some of his other novels but overall I enjoyed it very much and thought the ending was satisfying. Plus, Wyndham showed again how ahead of his time he was - this science fiction novel written in 1960 had a female protagonist which was unusual at the time.

In Trouble with Lichen, Diana Brackley a biochemist, discovers that a certain Chinese lichen had strange anti-aging effects on milk while working at in a lab. She and another biochemist Francis Saxover, run separate experiments in private and discover independently that the lichen was able to slow the cellular metabolic rate and extend the lifespan of living creatures injected with it.

Both biochemists initially keep the news to themselves and use their discovery in different ways: Francis keeps it to his family and Diana opens a beauty salon to treat primarily wealthy women in London. But secrets are hard to keep and what happens to Francis and Diana and their lichen once knowledge of it gets out?

The novel spends more time focused on Diana's storyline and the end of the novel has some surprising twists and turns.

I listened to the audiobook which was superbly narrated by English actress Vanessa Kirby. It was a short novel, only about seven hours in audio, and not my favorite Wyndham work but the strong ending sold me.